Participated · Seed · May 2021

Mill It is a plant-based food company that makes dairy alternative products from ancient grains. Using a proprietary fermentation method, the company developed what it describes as the first plant-based buttermilk. It plans to use that buttermilk to create several new plant-based products and offerings, including salad dressings. The product focus centers on leveraging ancient grains and its fermentation process to create dairy-alternative ingredients. Financially, Mill It recently raised a $765,000 Series Seed round led by Kern Venture Group. Investors in the round included Ariel Savannah Angel Partners and participants from the Santa Barbara Angel Alliance and Tech Coast Angels.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2021

Preciate is a Dallas, TX-based platform that helps businesses and teams grow authentic relationships through virtual business socials and peer-recognition technology. Its flagship product, Preciate Social, is a fully immersive virtual socializing platform that replicates real-life business socials and mixers. The company’s patent-pending Social PresenceTM technology enables users to move toward or away from people to start conversations, hear background noise, and give toasts. Preciate Social supports customizable event backgrounds and music, the ability to hire live performers, and a Convos feature that provides built-in ice breakers. Preciate closed a $4.6M seed round and intends to use the funds to scale product development, expand marketing, and hire across multiple roles. Ed Stevens is CEO and co-founder.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2017

Spinal Singularity develops the Connected Catheter™, a fully internal, extended-use catheter system for adult males with chronic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction that may remain in the body up to 29 days and could replace as many as 200 disposable intermittent catheters. The company is based in San Clemente, CA and was founded in 2015 by Derek Herrera; its leadership includes CEO William ‘Bill’ Colone, Director of R&D Jeff Kasalko, Director of Quality Stephanie Rallis, and Director of US Sales Shannon Metzger. It closed a $3.1M equity seed round to fund clinical validation of the Connected Catheter™ and has also earned over $500k in non-dilutive funding from sources including the NIH, NSF, IndieGoGo, the PrimeUC Competition and UCLA Business Plan Competitions. Spinal Singularity anticipates commencing First-in-Man clinical testing in 2017 and intends to pursue CE Mark approval and FDA clearance in 2018. The company is using the new funding specifically to support clinical validation efforts.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2017

Keepe operates an online marketplace that connects property managers who manage rental homes with vetted maintenance workers. The company was founded by a group of engineers from RealNetworks and is led by CEO Rishi Mathew and CTO Vishal Srivastava. Keepe shifted its focus from homeowners to rental properties after finding the homeowner market crowded and sees more growth potential in rentals. It currently operates in Seattle and Phoenix and will use the $1.5M it raised in its first funding round to expand to more cities. The platform has more than 100 vetted maintenance pros who have completed over 3,000 jobs; contractors are independent or work with established maintenance companies and are not Keepe employees. The startup employs eight people and expects headcount to double in the next six to eight months.